RAMSAR LIST

Copyright infringement not intended

Context: As part of various sustainable activities, Coal India Ltd (CIL) has under taken– Conservation of coal mine pit lakes, maintenance of ecological character of wet lands and inclusion of such pit lakes in prestigious Ramsar List with the assistance of respective State Governments and the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change

More on the news:

• As per the guidance of MoEFCC, CIL has identified five pit lakes in the States of West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh for consideration of including in Ramsar list.
• CIL is in process of preparing Ramsar Information Sheet (RIS).
• These mine pit water bodies are regularly visited by different species of birds and also has avifauna population.  The environment around these water bodies has ameliorated due to the efforts of CIL through large scale plantation and other soil moisture conservation activities.

About:

• Any wetland site which has been listed under the Ramsar Convention that aims to conserve it and promote sustainable use of its natural resources is called a Ramsar Site.
• Ramsar Convention is known as the Convention of Wetlands. It was established in 1971 by UNESCO and came into force in 1975.
• India is a party to the Ramsar Convention. India signed under it on 1st February 1982.
• There are 49 Ramsar Sites in India
• Sundarbans is the largest Ramsar Site of India
• Chilika Lake (Orissa) and Keoladeo National Park (Rajasthan) were recognized as the first Ramsar Sites of India
• Uttar Pradesh has the most number of Ramsar Sites in India.
• Renuka Wetland in Himachal Pradesh is the smallest wetland of India.

https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1837866